Antonio López: Master of Spanish realism

Drents Museum – Assen – The Netherlands

Greatest living realist artist

Antonio López (1936) is a phenomenon in his native Spain and has been labeled the ‘greatest living realist artist’. NorthernLight designed his first major solo exhibition in the Netherlands, which was showcased at the Drents Museum in Assen. The exhibition, Antonio López – Master of Spanish Realism, displayed the wide-ranging aspects of López’s work, featuring a variety of subjects and materials. With dozens of paintings, drawings, and sculptures spanning about seventy years, the exhibition allowed visitors to closely follow López’s entire career.

Panoramic view

The scenography of the exhibition is built up step by step. Firstly, visitors passed through a dark space, serving as a portal to reset from your daily surroundings. In the initial room, you hear Antonio Lopez’s voice in a pure setup, facilitated by a 360-sound installation that mimics him walking around you. The second room invites you into his atelier, where you witness work coming to life with illuminating effects. As the sounds of Madrid gradually join the soundscape, a theatrical composition takes shape. Subsequently, you step entirely into Lopez’s panoramic world. “The exhibition walls, employing forced perspective, feature colors derived from his work, arranged from darker in front to lighter at the back.” explains Lead Creative Maximilian Pecher. The gentle light glow from his Madrid panoramic piece is mirrored in the room, enhancing the focal point of the walls and the stencil letters on the area introduction boards. The experience unfolds from the inside, guided by his statues, towards the outside, symbolizing a progression from dark to light.

The essence of an object

Antonio López is known for his extremely detailed working method. One of his cityscapes of Madrid – the painting Madrid desde la torre de bomberos de Vallecas, on display in the exhibition in Assen – even took him sixteen years to complete, with breaks of course. López often chooses to return to the same place at the same time every year. It is characteristic of his art: López always tries to capture the essence of an object. He does this by leaving nothing to chance. Light, colour and shape: everything is carefully studied and imitated. In doing so, he transforms everyday subjects into rich works of art.

Client

Drents Museum

Location

Assen, The Netherlands

NorthernLight role

Concept, spatial design, visual design, creative quality control

NorthernLight core team

Peter Slavenburg, Maximilian Pecher (lead), Andrea Veldkamp.

Production

IRIS Vormgeving BV

Lighting

50LUX